Audrey was gone with her belongings.
They were gone.
I checked every square inch, looking for a ticket, an indication of where she might have gone, but nothing!
Zane, think! Don't panic!
I stood for a long time in the middle of the room, breathing slowly and trying to join all the pieces of the puzzle available to me.
"Gwen!" I exulted happily, going out and running to the coffee shop that had been my staple for all the breakfasts when I lived there with Audrey.
When I arrived at the club, my heart was in my throat and I was out of breath.
"I've been waiting for you," Gwen said to me, finishing serving a customer before me.
"Where is she, Gwen?"
"What makes you think I know?"
"Gwen, don't joke! I need to find her."
"Why?"
"To be happy," I said simply, with a smile on my lips that melted her.
"Come here," she ordered, taking me to the dessert counter. "I committed a theft for this. Make sure my crime was worth something," she warned me, handing me a chocolate muffin, Audrey's favorite.
"Where is she?" I asked, taking the cake after a long complicit look between us.
"In the back. She is helping me with the cookie dough as a thank you for letting her use the cot that I made available to her in the accounting room. I would have had her at my house, but I live in a twenty square meter studio apartment and I have no place for her. Unfortunately, business is not going well, and I can't afford anything else."
I did not even let her finish talking, and I proceeded to the sweet shop.
There, I found Audrey with her hands dirty with dough, sitting on a chest under the window, taking a break.
She appeared lost in the void.
I approached her and, only when I was a step away from her, did I notice the deep dark circles under her eyes red and wet with tears.
"Audrey," I called her softly.
I saw her looking in my direction.
When he realized that I was really there and not a figment of her imagination, she was amazed.
"You don't look good."
"Neither do you, “she replied weakly, without getting up.
"You should eat something," I invited, handing her the muffin.
"I'm not hungry."
"Mine is a peace offering."
"Will you ever be able to forgive me?" She asked, bursting into tears.
"You told me you never stopped loving me. If it is true, prove it by accepting my gift. And I promise to forgive you, "I said, putting the cake in her cold hands.
"I didn't mean to hurt you. I swear. I was wrong…"
"I was wrong too. A marriage is never destroyed solely because one person. We both made mistakes and paid for the consequences. I believe, however, the time has come to turn the page and look forward. If we want to rebuild our relationship from scratch, we must definitively close with the past and stop accusing or recriminating ourselves for the choices made."
"I love you, Zane."
"I know," I replied, kissing her on the forehead.
Audrey to hug me tightly. It was clear that she needed me, as I needed her.
I returned her hug.
27
Audrey
I do not know how long we hugged each other.
The only thing that mattered was that Zane had not turned me down.
He kept holding on to me even though I was drenching his shirt with tears.
I felt his kisses on my hair and his comforting words as he said it would be all right.
The only thing I wanted at that moment was to know if one day he could return to love me, but for fear of his refusal, I did not ask.
I did not even notice that Gwen had brought us two cups of coffee, until the scent reached my nostrils.
Zane gently pulled away from me and offered me one.
"A toast to a new beginning?" He proposed, offering me a cup.
I nodded, stifling a laugh of happiness.
We toasted and drank our drink.
"Shall we split it halfway?" He asked after me, pointing at the muffin I still had in my hand.
I took the cake and broke it in two, with my hands, being careful not to leave any crumbs lying around.
To my amazement, I found something shiny inside.
"But what ...?," I tried to understand, pulling out what I feared was a piece of utensil left by me when I had prepared those muffins, before Gwen's arrival, who then offered to put them in the molds and bake them in my place.
"What's this?" I exclaimed unable to believe my eyes.
In my hand I held my wedding ring, which I jealously guarded among my belongings.
"Oh, nothing important. It's just a way of reminding you that you've been, you are, and you'll always be my wife."
"Zane," I stammered, moved, overwhelmed by emotions and with my heart beating frantically in my chest.
"Audrey, I love you too. I never stopped loving you and I apologize for not being there when you needed me. I promise you it will never happen again."
"And I swear not to hide anything from you anymore."
"We need you."
"We?" I tried to understand confused.
"Me and the Thunder and Larson Company."
" Larson?"
"Yes, I want to make up for past mistakes and I want you back in the company. Audrey, you are the soul of this agency. We all want you to work with us. We need you."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely. Plus, I have a fabulous loft that is just waiting to be filled and decorated by your presence."
"Don't you want to go back to the old house?"
"I want a new future, and not back to the past. Also, Gwen lives in a studio apartment. Do you really want to live it in twenty square meters?"
"With such a muffin," I said, twirling my dessert and my wedding ring between my fingers. "She deserves bigger housing, nearby and with at least one year's rent free."
"Just what I thought. Also don't you think she deserves more visibility?"
"In fact, sales are not going very well and in my opinion the sign on the window is not appealing."
"I really think the Thunder and Larson Company has the solution for you and at no cost. A small price to pay for a newfound love, don't you think?"
I burst out laughing. I loved his way of making choices.
"I love you, Zane. I love you so much," I exclaimed in seventh heaven, kissing him with all the love I felt in my heart.
"I love you too. You and I. Forever."
28
Audrey
A month later.
"It's not that I'm sorry, but I don't understand. Why did you want to come back here? I thought it was for the new Farlight brand, but Edmond just phoned me, wishing me a nice holiday," worried Zane, who had taken that trip as a business trip.
"I thought you liked this country house on the lake."
"I like it very much, but we are in the middle of renovating our loft in Chicago. You are the one who decided to change the whole apartment, promising to supervise the works, while now ..."
"Gwen is replacing me. And then it's only three days! We will not be away for months! You know, Karen told me they would like to sell this house. They don't care about their son and so they'll put it up for sale," I changed the subject.
"I don't know if we can afford it."
"I didn't say I wanted it."
"I know you too well. You would never have brought me here if there wasn't something in the works."
"Indeed, there is. I wanted to bring you here, before it went up for sale, to remind us of this place."
"Why all this affection?" Zane asked suspiciously.
Was it possible that I could never hide anything from him?
"Because that's where we conceived our son," I revealed.
"Are you pregnant?" He asked, shocked, and elated at the same time.
"Yes, I found out two weeks ago. That is why I started the r
enovation of the loft. I want to have the baby's room next to ours."
"Why didn't you tell me right away?"
"Because, just as I was leaving the gynecologist, Karen called me, telling me that they would put this house up for sale. I immediately asked her to spend a weekend here with you. She agreed but, because of a hydraulic problem, we delayed our plan by a couple of weeks."
"So, you knew that?"
"Everybody knows. Even at the office."
"So, the congratulations were for this, not for the Hartman Group, the new millionaire client we contracted?"
"For both, I think."
"Oh my God! I will become a father!" He shouted in joy, taking me in his arms and twirling me in the air.
"I won't deny you that I'm afraid of another abortion, but now that you know about my pregnancy, I feel more relaxed and I know that together we can face everything."
"It doesn't matter what will happen. I promise you that I will never leave you alone. I love you, Audrey."
"Me too. I love you infinitely, my love."
END
The Sweet Poison of Revenge Page 10